Community Members Contribute to Students' Education

Over the past few weeks community members have been engaged with Opelika City Schools students to expand their understanding of school and community relationships.  Rusty Melnick, OHS graduate and community businessman participated in two of these events.  His thoughts about his experiences are listed below after a brief description of the events.

Opelika City Schools worked with the Opelika Chamber of Commerce to offer the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) to our students.  We are currently offering this program through one of the technology classes at Opelika Middle School.  YEA is a national program that teaches young people how to take an idea and develop it into a business.  YEA utilizes community members to teach the process of beginning your own business.   

Opelika High School tenth grade English teachers recently asked Patsy Boyd Parker, Rusty Melnick, Wilbert Payne, and Frances Capps-Palmer, who were OHS students during the desegregation era to form a panel to discuss how segregation and desegregation impacted their lives. This panel discussion was an activity to coincide with their reading of Warriors Don’t Cry.

Rusty's comments:

OMS - When I was asked to speak with the YEA class at the Middle School my first thought was, “how could students this young be interested in a presentation on business insurance.” After about five minutes into my presentation my question was answered, and it was not the answer I was expecting.  (They were interested because of what they had been learning in YEA.)  The students were extremely attentive and respectful of not only me but of their fellow classmates. Their interest prompted them to ask questions during the presentation instead of waiting until we finished. I was absolutely blown away by their questions which were specific to their business exposures and were thought provoking. The students’ attention and participation far exceeded my expectations!

OHS - I was excited when asked to participate on a panel concerning my experience during integration of the Opelika School system. Prior to the first panel session I was not sure what to expect from the students as far as their interest in this subject. The session started with each panel member sharing about a couple of the experiences we had during the beginning of integration in Opelika. The students were attentive during our opening remarks, then the floor was opened up for questions and the students came alive! Questions came from all students, male, female, white and black asking questions that were sincere and looking for honest answers. After the session was over, numerous students approached each panel member to thank them for sharing their experiences and also to ask additional questions. I would definitely say I benefited more than anyone at the session because of what the other panel members had to say and from how the students were respectful and genuinely interested in learning more about the integration process in Opelika - based on the quality of questions they asked!

Thank you Rusty for your involvement and these comments.